Affidavit of Pat Hill
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States Commissioner, Pat Hill, who being first duly sworn doth depose and say as follows:
I live at Roanoke, Alabama. I left Roan-oke Ala. About the 1st April 1902. I started to go to Hollands. On my road to hollands to go to work, - U had been informed by a black fellow that they were paying $1. a day for labor, and wanted hands.
I went to Hollands, and hired out [As ?] and worked one day. They promised us one dollar a day, and I had been told I would get a dollar a day and our board. We worked a day, and found they did not do that, took so much a day our of our wages for board, $2.00 a week for board. After working one day I quit. Up to this time I had never signed any contract. After I quit I was on my way to Roanoke on foot and got back as far as Goodwater when we was arrested by Mr. Franklin at Goodwater on the 3rd day of April. Ed Moody, Doc Crenshaw, and Charley Williams and P five altogether, five gone there together, coming away togeth-er, and all five arrested together. I was arrested by two men, and was told the xxxxx men’s names were Franklin and Smithman. When they carried us back to Hollands the Mayor of the little town tried us and fined us $5. dollars apiece that he claimed was for board. We had only eaten one meal at the works. After we got to Hollands one of the men that arrested us told us that he would bring us to his brothers and that he would pay the fine and we could work it out with him. We signed no contract at Hollands. We were taken and put on board a train and brought in the direction of Goodwater, passed through Good-water and on to Dadeville where we were taken off the train by these same two men. We were loaded in a wagon at Dadeville, and taken to Mr. Pace’s where we signed a contract with Mr. Pace to work 7 months each of us. I had been at Mr. Pace’s about three weeks when I started to ran away. I got four miles from there when I was overtaken by Mr. Anderson Hardy and brought back. I was tried before Justice of the Peace Kennedy, and he convicted me of breaking the contract and gave me six months. I went back to work for Mr. Pace, and worked out the six months Mr. Kennedy had given me. I then worked four months on the
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original contract, and then borrowed ten dollars from Mr. Mac Catlis[?]e of Roanoke and paid Mr. Pace and was released.
While at Mr. Pace’s was locked up at nights. Worked as a con-vict and locked up every night, and locked up myself as a convict. I was whipped twice. One of the times my hands were fastened under my knees, I was bent over and whipped on the naked back. He told me to count, and I counted up to 15, and could not count any further. He whipped me about 25 licks. There was no doctor present when I was shipped. The whipping occurred out in the field before the other negroes. This last severe whipping was given me after I was caught and brought back after running away.
his
Pat X Hill
mark
sworn to and subscribed
before me this 12 day of may 1902
L.H. Dawson Jr,
U.S. Commissioner
Mid. Dist. Of Ala,
Note: Question marks represent illegible text.